Suction cleaner



Sept. 29, 1942. Q. BERG SUCTION CLEANER Filed May 13, 1940 2Sheets-Sheet l R & m e N EB R .v o W HM MY fi I U mkw Y I a 0 Sept. 29,1942. Q. BERG SUCTION CLEANER Filed May 15, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 WWW EWm 0 Patented Sept. 29, 1942 UNITED STATES PA E NT OF'FHEE SUCTIONCLEANER Quentin Berg, North Canton.

The Hoover Company,

corporation of Ohio Ohio, assignor to North Canton, Ohio, a

I Application May 1 3.1940, Serial No. 334,725

3.Claims. (or. 239-117) vide a new" and improved suction cleaner. -It isanother object of the invention to provide a new and novel motor casingstructure in a suction cleaner. -Another object of the invention is toprovide in a suction cleaner a motor casing formed by two halves, theone half cooperating with a cooling fan to provide an efficient meansfor forcing cooling air over the motor. Still another object of theinvention is to provide a simple and inexpensive suction cleaner motorcasing formed by two castings or moldings and so arranged that it is notnecessary to employ sliding cores in casting or molding the halvesforming the casing. It is still another object of the invention toprovide a suction cleanerhaving a low vertical height so as to permitcleaning under low furniture. I

It is another object of the present invention to provide a new andimproved motor cooling fan construction. Another object, isto provide amotor cooling fan having a single shroud on ed with an inlet opening andforming oneside oi. the chamber for the ventilating fan. These and otherobjects will-appearupon reading thespecifications and .claimshereinafter set forth.

1 In describing this invention, reference is made views.

' the inletside of the fantthe shroud being provid- Figure leis a viewin side elevation of a modern suction cleaner with a portion of thecleaner,

broken away to show section.

Figure 2 is an'isometric view oi'the motor brush holder of the presentinvention. Figure .3 is a perspective view of the motor casingshowing'the inlet and outlet for themothe driving motor casing in t'orcooling air.

Figure 4 1s an isometric view of the cooling fan with' half of the Ianbroken away. 1

Figure 5 -isa viewin The usual suctioncleaner embodies a suction a,

a nozzle I, bottom and -a slight distance lips 6 and I. Positioned inthe tan chamber 2 r creating means to produce a flow of air to carryaway the dirt dislodged by a", rotating brush or .agitator. Thisarrangement is broadly old but the motor it is necessary to'provide aproperly 4 designed Ian chamber to enclose a small centritugal fan. Theprovision of a fan chamber has necessitated a complicated motor casingstructure so as to form the walls for the fan chamber. In addition theprovision of a cooling or ventilating fan chamber has added height tothe motor casing and in turn the total cleaner height because of theadditional horizontal wall and the additional clearance required betweenthat wall and the cooling air fan. The present invention achieves allthe advantages of a properly designed cooling air ian chamber simply andinexpensively, and in additionthe total height of the cleaner is notincreased over that whereia ventilating ianyis employed without achamber.

The cleaner main casting is seen to comprise side walls oia i'an chamher2 and an exhaust passageway 3 extending rearwardly from-the fan chamber2. The fan chamber 2 communicates with the nozzle I through a suctionpassageway 4 whichis completed by a removable bottom plate 5. Theforward nozzle hp 6' is formed integrally with the nozzle I and the rearnozzle lip I is formed by the removable bottom plate 5. Positioned-inthe nozzle I is a rotaryagitator 8 having surface brushing andcontacting elements which extend beyond the plane of the nozzle is a fan9- which draws'the dirt laden air through the fan eye l0, and this airis exhausted through of nut I3. Thecleaner is supported on front andrear wheels II, M attached to the main cast v ing I, and there isalsopivotally-mounted. on the cross-section taken on the line 5-5 ofFigure 4 showing a Bakelite mold used in' forming the ventilatingfan.

main casing I a propelling handle I5.

threaded extension of the motor shaft is formed linto adustbag u Uusual'manner'to the' as a pulley l6 which drives the rotary agitator 8by means of a rubber belt IT. The suction cleaner so. far described isof a well imown type and operates in a common and usual manner.

The'motor casing or housing comprises a lower section 2i and an uppersection 22 which are held together by screws 23. 1 The motor casing 20seats on the top of the main casing i and the lower section 2i forms thetop wall of the fan chamber 2 as illustrated in Figure 1. The motorcasing 29 is attached to the cleaner main casing by screws. (not shown)which extend through openings 24 in the lower section 2' into the maincasting [(see Figure 3). Positioned within the motor casing 2d are theusual elements of a uni versal motor, namely fleld stack 25, with awinding 25 and an armature or rotor 2'! including a commutator 2B.

The armature is positioned for rotation by upper and lower bearingassemblies identified.v as and 3| respectively. The lower hearingassembly 3! is positioned in a downwardly opening recess 32 formedintegrally in the lower section 2| of the motor case by screws 33 one ofwhich appears in Figure l. The field stack 25 is also positioned in thelower section it ofth'e motor case by suitable fastening screws notshown. Formed integrally with the lower section 25 is a forwardlyextending portion 3 3 and having directly molded or cast therein avertically arranged lamp socket 35 to carry a small lamp 38. Ventilatingair openings 31 are formed on each side of the lower section 2i the topof the open- I ings being flush withthe top line ofv the motor section2i as is clearly shown in Figure 3. In addition a similar opening 38 isformed in the front vertical wall of lower section 2|. By bringing thetop of openings?! and 38 flush with the top-of the lower section 2| itis not necessary to employ sliding cores to form these openings.

As seen from Figure 3 the upper section 22 comprises generally a unitarycup shaped portion 40 having a forwardly extending flange it whichextends over and covers the field stack 25 and windings 26. Thecup-shaped section 40 is generally circular in shape and is closedacross the top by an integral wall member 42. Wall member 52 is providedwith a centrally located opening and downwardly facing recess whichserves to position the upper bearing assembly 88 which is held in placeby rivets 63.

Two openings M are provided in the circular functions as a retainer forthe commutating brush 5i and its attached pressure spring and also as a.current carrying member to the pressure spring since the commutator leadwire is secured to this screw.

As viewed in Figurel, it is seen that a ventilating fan It is mounted onthe armature shaft immediately above the commutator 28 by means of a nutH. The ventilating fan will be described in detail hereinafter but forthe present it is adequate to say that the fan is of the centrifugaltype and operates in an integrally formed chamher which comprises theuppermost portion of the cup shaped portion 44 of the motor casingsection 22. The ventilating fan chamber is closed across the bottom byshroud it on the fan '30 and which extends radially to the sides of thechamber 44 so as to provide only a running clearance thereportion tothrough which the brush holders 5!} openings 44 as large or larger thanthe outside 1 diameter of the cup shaped portion at the top of openingsit. In practice the openings 46 are not cleanly formed as a thin flashof the molding material will close the openings but this flash can beeasily punched out. Below each opening M arectangular shaped seat 45 isformed which serves as a seat for the brush holders 59.

Brush holder 50 is seen to comprise a, stamping generally shaped toprovide a guide for the commutating brush 5! and having laterallyextending flanges. 52, the one flange having 9, d wardly extendingportion 53. The flanges 52 and the downwardly extending portion 53 serveto" position the brush holder on the seat 45 by means of the screws 54.The screw which extends through the downwardly extending flange 53 alsoserves to fasten a small metallic clip 55 which between.

The ventilating air exhaust opening St is formed in much the same manneras the brush holder openings B4. The diameter of the top wall segment 42at the opening 60 is made slightly smaller than the inside diameter ofthe cup shaped portion 44 at the point where the opening is formed inorder that the two halves of the mold or die which forms the casingsection 22 will register thereat and thus form the opening 89 in themolded piece.

Completing the description of the upper section 22 it is to be notedthat two upstanding spaced apart wall members 6! are formed integrallywith the upper section 22 which cooperate with two depending'similarlyspaced apart wall-members 52 formed integrally with the motor hood orcover it to form an exhaust-passageway for the ventilating air. Theventilating air flows through this exhaust passageway over the lamp 365,thus cooling the same, and is discharged to the atmosphere through theopening formed in the forward portion of the motor hood and throughwhich the light rays are directed.

which is illustrated in Figure 4 it is noted that the fan is made in onepiece and comprises a hub 72, blades '83 and a or shroud it. The hub i2is in the form of a truncated cone from which the blades 13 extendradially.

Integrally formed with the blades 73 is the shrould it which extendsradially a greater distance than the fan blades. The shrould is providedwith a central opening i5 which forms the eye of the fan and throughwhich the air enters to be acted upon by the fan. The construction ofthe fan iii is such that it may either be a die casting, as for example.die cast-aluminum, or a molding, as for exampl molded phenolic resin.

Likewise the construction of the fan is such that ,it can be made from adie or mold having only two parts and without pulling side cores.

In Figure 5 a simple compression type Bakelite mold is shown in sectionwith the left hand half taken through the blade 13 and with the righthand half showing a section between blades as indicated by the sectionlines in Figur 4. The

lower half oi the mold is indicated by reference character Ti and theupper half by character 18. It is readily apparent that by makingthediameter of the hub 12 at its largest point equal to or slightly lessthan the diameter of the eye 15, the fan is formed without pulling sidecores. Thus a compact and rigid fan is obtained which is simple andinexpensive to construct.

- Referring to 'Figure l, the ventilating fan i0 is secured to thearmature shaft by a nut II. It is also to be noted that the hub 12 ofthe ventilating fan is recessed on the topside in order that bearingassembly 30 may partially fit into the recess or hollowed out portion sothat the overall height -of the cleaner motor is reduced.

To assemble the motor unit, the bearing assemblies 30 and 3| are firstmounted in casing sections 22 and 2! respectively. Field stack 25 withits associated winding 28 is then secured in the lower casing section2|. The armature assembly 21 minus the suction creating fan 9 and pulleyI6 is theninserted in the lower hearing 3|. Ventilating fan 10 should besecured to the armature shaft at this point, or it may have beenpreviously assembled on the shaft. Theupper half or section 22 issecured to the lower half. 2| by the screws 23. Motor brush holders 50are then attached to the casing section 22 and the motor brush and otherwiring connections are made. The final step comprises securing the fan 8and pulley IE to the armature shaft after which the complete motor unitis secured to the cleaner main casing.

In operation, the motor ventilating air traverses the following path.The air enters the motor hood 18 at ports I! located near the rear andat each side thereof. The air next flows through port 38 and ports 31 ofthe motor casing section 2|, across the field windings 26 and armature21 thus cooling the same. The air is admitted to ,ventilating fanchamber formed by the rotating fan shroud H and the upper section 22 ofthe motor case through the eye 15. Therein the air is placed underpressure and exhausted through exhaust port", passing through thechannels formed by wall members 8i and 82, past the lamp l8 andexhausted to atmosphere through the opening in the front of the motorhood.

The advantages in applicants structure lies in the,improved constructionof the parts of a suction cleaner so that these parts may besimply andinexpensively produced. Likewise the overall height of the cleaner isreduced which permits cleaning under low furniture. By applicant'sinvention the motor casing is formed by two simple moldings or castings,the one completing the top of the mainfan chamber and housing the motorfield stack, the other part positioning the motor brushes andcooperating with a ventilating fan to form a centrifugal fan system formotor cooling purposes. This fan system is highly efiicient andfurthermore makes use of a simple and inexpensive ventilating fan.

I claim:

1. In a suction cleaner, the combination of suction creating meansincluding a motor, a housing for said motor provided with ports at itsopposite ends for the circulation of ventilating air therethrough, saidhousing formed in two sections, one of said sections positioning thecommutating brushes and a rotor bearing and including a raised circularportion forming the top and circular sides of a ventilating fan chamber,a ventilating fan provided with a single shroud of greater radius thanthe fan blades, said shroud having a central opening adapted to form afan inlet, said shroud and said raised circular'portion of the housingcooperating to form a complete ventilating fan chamber. 2. In a suctioncleaner, a motor housing formed in two sections, one of said sectionscomprising an open bottomed casing part having side and top walls, aventilating air opening formed in said side wall, commutating brushholder openings formed in said side wall below said air opening, saidside wall having each portion spaced radially a lesser distance than anyportion therebelow in order that said part may be molded without the useof side acting cores, a motor shaft extended into said part, a motorventilating fan carried by said shaft adjacent said top wall and saidair opening, said ventilating fan including a single shroud having aninlet opening, said shroud being extended closely adjacent said sidewall, the said top wall and said shroud forming the end walls of a fanchamber.

3. In a suction cleaner, a motor housing formed in two sections, one ofsaid sections comprising an open bottomed casing part having side andtop walls, a ventilating air opening and commutating brush holderopenings formed in said side wall, supports for said commutating brushholders positioned exteriorly on said casing part, said side wall havingeach portion spaced radially a lesser distance than any portiontherebelow in order that said casing part may be molded without the useof side acting cores, a motor shaft extended into said part, a motorventilating fan carried by said shaft adjacent said top wall and saidair opening, said ventilating fan including a single shroud having aninlet opening, said shroud being extended closely adjacent said sidewall, the said top wall and said shroud forming the end walls of a fanchamber.

QUENTIN BERG.

